Exploring IoT, the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is a mix of hardware, software and services. One or many of those elements are connected to and driven by a local network, Internet and the Cloud.

On the wide new world of Internet of Things, many initiatives are competing, with some focusing on data processing and visualisation, others on interface. 
Let's consider three main steps on an IoT project:
  • acquisition, including pre-processing and transport
  • processing, including storage
  • execution, including visualisation, action and retrieval 
​
Texas Instruments provides this interesting illustration of the IoT value chain on An introduction to the Internet of Things.
 
Acquisition
Processing
Execution
  • Weather Station
Machine to Human
A LaunchPad CC3200 reads temperature, humidity and pressure from sensors and sends a message with the values.
The data is added to a database. 
A website displays a nice graph for the three values over time.
  • Remote Control
Human to Machine
On a smartphone, the Blynk application displays a A/C button. When the button is pressed on, the Blynk application sends a message.
The message is re-routed to a connected Arduino Yún. 
The remote Arduino Yún receives the command and turns the A/C on.
  • Climate Automation
Machine to Machine
A LaunchPad CC3200 acquires temperature and humidity, and sends a message with the two values. 
The message is re-directed to a Particle Core.
The Particle Core compares the values with thresholds and turns the A/C on or off accordingly.

Next